Muslim Massacre game pulled, along with a genuine apology?
By Dave Parrack
Muslim Massacre is a game which puts players in control of a soldier whose mission it is to rid the world of every last Muslim. Nice. The Internet-only game caused controversy amongst the Muslim population and has now been pulled from the website. In its place is a grovelling apology from the creator of the game. But is it genuine or merely some cowardly backtracking?
Last week saw Muslim Massacre get some mainstream and very public attention after it became an Internet meme. What started as a forum post pointing people towards the game turned in to a media circus, with newspapers and websites all around the world attacking the idea of the game and its creator, Sigvatr.
The game was Web-only, with poor graphics, and so really shouldn’t have got the amount of attention it did. Unfortunately, the subject matter was such that it was always bound to grab the headlines. While some believed it was intended as a parody of American foreign policy, others believed it to be just a downright sick game likely to add to the problem of Islamophobia.
I argued that whatever the message being sent at the heart of the game, it should be allowed to exist, merely because by calling for it to be banned, it would mean we are calling for the Internet to be policed and censored. In the end, a ban wasn’t necessary, as the game’s website now sports an apology instead of the game itself.
I would like to make a public apology for any offense that I might have caused through releasing this game, and to Muslims in particular. My intentions when releasing this project were to mock the foreign policy of the United States and the commonly held belief in the United States that Muslims are a hostile people to be held with suspicion. I would like to make it clear that I have never shared such a belief and my intention was to mock those who actually do believe these things.
I would like to ask for the forgiveness of Muslims around the world and to make it clear that I did not release this game with ill intent. So without further ado, I would like to say that I am truly apologetic for what I have done and will take full responsibility for all offense that has been caused. I can only hope that any further misgivings can be laid to rest.
The apology seems genuine enough, and it is certainly well written. And removing the game is noble. The problem is that once something has been released on the Internet, it’s pretty much guaranteed to be on there until the end of time. If you look in the right place, you’ll still be able to play Muslim Massacre and see what all the fuss was about.
I’m glad the creator of the game eventually saw the light and took the right decision. However, I’m still struggling to understand why the game was created and put on the Web in the first place.
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September 15th, 2008
The apology was clearly not genuine. The web site was taken down by the hosts due to bandwidth issues – Sigvatr admitted this on SomethingAwful – and is now back up!
September 15th, 2008
this game is soo full of crap who ever created this game it show that they are definitly not educated and i think an apology is not enough this is an effence to the muslim religon my opinion is this game should be band. what the hell is this game trying to set an example to killing muslims that is a load of bull muslim people are just like me and you and if who ever created this game… i hope the worst for you….
September 15th, 2008
Islam is a religion of violence, rape, incest, and murder. Funny how they all get worked up when they’re shown for what they are.
September 15th, 2008
GoonyGoon, the same can be said about Christianity. Just look at how many children have been killed by US cluster bombs in Iraq and elsewhere. Oops, sorry, that’s collatoral damage, so that doesn’t count does it?
September 15th, 2008
Freedom of speech is dead. Now it’s freedom to not offend, or freedom to say somethings but not others.
September 15th, 2008
If we want we can make better games to insult other religions as muslims but we dont. Think why? Do not be afraid of islam, just try to understand. But not looking at the terrorist you created in the middle east.
September 16th, 2008
Islam, Christianity, Judaism or any other stone age fairy tale deserves no ‘respect’. I downloaded the game and found it to be a parody styled on an old 80’s home video game look and feel. It was fun.
September 16th, 2008
Hi, goons. Guess who submitted this shit to the UK news media in the first place.
September 16th, 2008
Thank you, BeastUK. It would have been truly horrific if news of that game had stayed out of the public eye. I can only imagine the sheer pain and suffering you have saved us from by letting the muslims of the world know that they have been insulted by a silly joke.
September 16th, 2008
Nooffence: If you are right we lose nothing but if we are right you will lose so much. Dont be so sure while cursing and offending!
September 16th, 2008
Very distasteful, however in a free society, that’s something to be expected. Anyone who has a problem with it needs to take a step back and realize that first, it’s a game, and second… nobody is making you play it.
Get over it.
September 17th, 2008
@matt: suppose that i programmed a game, for example fuck matt. distribute it for free as i am a free man. Every body will fuck you in the game. and someone that played the game will see you in the street and say; hey i fucked you in the game, You will see this and say, no offend it is a game. ????
September 18th, 2008
I can’t believe people are bringing up freedom of speech. Does freedom of speech only apply to this jackass? It doesn’t apply to the muslims who wan’t to voice their displeasure? This ridiculous standard is applied to Muslims that somehow they should keep quiet, shouldn’t protest or even boycott products that offend them.
September 20th, 2008
Thanks ab
November 5th, 2008
The hypocrisy of Islamic apologists knows no bounds:
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/08/16/hezbollah.game.reut/index.html
The concept of hypocrisy is lost on these people
February 27th, 2009
islam is a religion of peace,non violence u western people creating terrorists by u r selves and calling them muslims this is a conspiracy against all muslim world to let them become help less c first it was iraq,phalestine.afghanistan now it is pak